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An ANBU operative arrived and gave Hiruzen the full report.
"Exquisite swordsmanship?"
"A strange jutsu that affected Jiraiya?"
"Extremely powerful lightning?"
Hiruzen's brow furrowed deep. "All of these are techniques Rasa never used before. Did he get even stronger again? In such a short time he's already mastered this many dangerous moves. Just how talented is this guy? How far can he still grow? The stronger he gets, the bigger his ambitions will become."
He felt a flash of anger toward Jiraiya. "Jiraiya was an idiot. He didn't go all-out at the start. If he had hit those Sand forces with everything from the beginning, we could have dealt them a massive blow. Then when Rasa showed up we could've just avoided the fight and walked away with a complete victory."
But that was easy to say after the fact.
"I wonder what other tricks Rasa is going to pull next."
Before they could even worry about that, Konoha had a new problem to deal with—Cloud Village was already making demands.
Xi had been ready to accept failure. Then news of Jiraiya's crushing defeat and serious injuries lit a fire under him.
"With the Leaf in this state, they won't dare make an enemy of Cloud anymore. No matter what price we demand, they'll have to pay it."
He turned to Killer B. "Lord B, let's go straight to the Leaf and demand the Byakugan. If they refuse, Cloud Village declares war. Send word to Lord Raikage immediately."
When Hiruzen read Cloud's conditions, his face turned iron-gray.
"How dare Cloud Village be this shameless? They already got blood for blood and they're still not satisfied? Now they're openly demanding the Byakugan or they'll go to war? Fine. Let's go to war then. Does Cloud really think the Leaf is afraid of them?"
Even as he said it, Hiruzen knew it was just angry bluster. Konoha couldn't afford a war with Cloud right now. The Nine-Tails attack had already wrecked them. Sand was still breathing down their necks. If Leaf got dragged into a real conflict, Rock Village would definitely jump in too. They couldn't fight three great villages at once.
"This is too much!"
"Completely shameless!"
"Beyond shameless!"
Hiruzen took several deep breaths to calm down, then forced himself to think. But Cloud's stance was rock-hard. No matter what Hiruzen said or how hard or soft he tried to negotiate, Cloud had one answer.
"Give us the Byakugan or we go to war."
"Mist Village gave one up. Why can't you? Are you looking down on Cloud?"
Hiruzen's head pounded. He was so stressed he couldn't even eat. "Why is everything falling apart like this? How did the Leaf end up in this position? Damn it! Sand and Cloud are both animals!"
He had already forced the Hyuga clan to sacrifice once. He didn't want to do it again. But right now there was no better option. The alternative was preparing to fight three great villages at the same time—and Hiruzen knew that path would probably lead the Leaf straight to destruction. Maybe even worse than what happened to Mist.
After all, Mist was remote. Leaf was right in the middle with rich resources everyone wanted.
Homura and Koharu joined him in the Hokage Tower.
"Hiruzen, this isn't your fault. Sand and Cloud are just too vile."
"There's really no other choice."
"We have to ask the Hyuga clan to sacrifice again."
"For the village, I'm sure they'll understand."
So Hyuga Sōchō was summoned back to the Hokage's office.
"Sōchō."
Hiruzen let out a long, heavy sigh. "You already know the situation. Jiraiya was defeated by Rasa and seriously injured. He won't be recovering anytime soon, so our forces had to retreat. But Sand is still pressing hard. The village is in terrible shape. Rock is watching like a vulture, ready to take revenge. Cloud's army is already on the way, using that dead jonin as an excuse. They're not satisfied with just Hizashi anymore. They want the Leaf—and the Hyuga clan—to pay a much heavier price."
"The village has run out of options."
Hiruzen looked up, eyes bloodshot, full of guilt and desperate pleading. He didn't say the words out loud, but Sōchō already understood.
"The Byakugan?"
"Yes."
"Lord Hokage… can I go back and think about it?"
"Of course."
After Sōchō left, Hiruzen shook his head. "The heavens really aren't fair to the Leaf. All these disasters keep landing on us. It all comes down to strength. We're just not strong enough right now. Tsunade still won't come back even though the village is like this? Even if she did, she probably couldn't help much. A medical ninja, one of the Legendary Three, and she's got hemophobia of all things."
He went to the medical wing.
"Jiraiya."
"Sensei."
"How are you feeling?"
Jiraiya was quiet for a moment.
"I was too careless."
"Rasa's abilities are way beyond what the intel said. Sand puppets, instant movement, Magnet Release gold dust—he used all of those. But on top of that, he pulled off extremely strong lightning without even using the Lightning Blade. His sensing is insane too. My Toad Shadow Manipulation Technique didn't work at all. He saw right through it."
"He's also got this weird jutsu that creates powerful attraction or repulsion between me and his sand soldiers—like turning us both into magnets. His kenjutsu… I don't think it's any weaker than the White Fang's back in the day. And that blade of his is special. Maybe it's a jutsu. When he swung it, I clearly blocked with my kunai, but the blade just passed straight through it like the kunai wasn't even there. No resistance at all. And my Needle Hell went right through his body without doing anything. He deliberately dodged it earlier just to make me drop my guard."
"His abilities are too strange."
Regret was plain on Jiraiya's face. He wished he had gone to Mount Myoboku first to gather natural energy. If he'd fought in Sage Mode, he didn't believe he would've lost. But it was too late for that now. All he could do was live with the consequences.
"Sensei… I'm sorry. I lost. And after this, I probably won't even be able to function as a ninja anymore."